


We're Still Playing Chess

by chocolate_velvet



Category: X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men:The Last Stand
Genre: Age Difference, Age Regression/De-Aging, Chess, Erik lost his power, M/M, playing chess in a park
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-10
Updated: 2016-10-10
Packaged: 2018-08-20 15:19:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8253742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chocolate_velvet/pseuds/chocolate_velvet
Summary: Set in time after the X-Men:The Last Stand. Erik is left without power. He is living alone, believing that Charles is dead. He sits in the park everyday from 7 am- 5 pm. In front of him is a chessboard with all the pieces stand ready. He appears as if he is waiting for a chess partner. However, he will turn down anyone who wants to play with him."I'm sorry. That seat is taken. I'm waiting for an old friend." he says politely.





	

Erik sits in a bench where chess players gather. He sits in facing an open chess board, with all the pieces stands, ready to be played. But he sits alone, without any opponent, as if he is waiting for his chess partner.

Each time a person is about to take sit in front of him, Erik will politely tell them that he is waiting for his partner and that seat is already reserved.

But, there is no partner playing with him. Erik sits on the bench every day from 7 am - 5 pm, every day, alone. Even the winter's chill or summer's heat cannot discourage him. He waits patiently.

Erik never forgets to count his days, since the first day he set his chess board on that park until this very day. He counts it, every year, month, week, day, hour, minute, and even second.

His gaze is always hopeful as if he is sure that his partner is going to show up one day. Sometimes, he waves his hands over chess pieces, as if trying to move them without touching. Yet, those pieces stand tall, unmoved.

Every other chess player has left him alone. They stop asking him to play with them or trying to talk to him. To them, Erik is always polite but cold, slightly unfriendly.

Erik hardly feels the isolation from other chess players. He is already been divorced and isolated from someone whom truly means for his life. This form of isolation is irredeemable, even with having thousands friends. Besides, he does not want thousands friends. He only longs for one. That one has lost to him.

Just when he nearly gave up, he felt a familiar nudge inside his head. The feeling he knows very well. Charles is still alive inside him, intruding, cheering, annoying, entertaining, and loving.

Erik has passed the age of a giddy teenager. He is old enough to start tending his grave. Yet, he is thrilled by the thought of tending a piece of Charles inside his head.

So, he wakes up every morning with Charles' nagging inside his head. He reads his paper during breakfast, as if he is pretending to ignore Charles sitting in front of him and babbling about the virtue of humanity. In the park, he sits as if Charles is going to meet and play chess with him. And, at night, he whispers “good night” to Charles. Erik's life is revolving with Charles in the center.

Charles is not dead, only transcending into a different kind of existence. It is the reality that wraps Erik's life.

Today, Erik woke up late. It is a quite unlikely for him but he is unsure of the cause. He just could not wake up at the usual hour.

The weather is most beautiful today. The air is filled with the aroma of the park's blooming flowers, warm and welcoming. The wind is sweet and gentle, as if it carries the promise of love. It is weird because it is the first time Erik notices it.

When he arrives at the park, he sees somebody is already sitting on his usual bench and beginning to set his chessboard. Erik sighs. He would need to diplomatically removes that man from his seat.

For a second, Erik entertains the idea of playing chess with that stranger. But, he shakes the idea off his head. That seat belongs to Charles.

So, Erik stands firmly in front of the stranger. That man is younger, about 30s. He wears lilac sweater. The skin of his hands and neck is the color of alabaster. His brown curls gently covers nearly a half of his face. He does not look up to Erik but warmly welcomes and asks him to take a seat.

Erik remains standing. There were days when he could send this man flying backward with a click of his fingers but those days are gone. Erik needs another effective methods to get rid of other people.

“Excuse me. But you're occupying the seat reserved for my partner.” he says hauntingly.

The man looks at him. Deep blue eyes meet with another deep blue eyes. Erik remembers the color of Charles' eyes. Judging by the appearance, this man is definitely not Charles but there is something in him that makes Erik stops in the way that Charles used to do to him. Erik is unsure.

The man smiles. Upon him looking at Erik, he banishes the phantoms in Erik's heart. For the first time in many years, Erik feels the forgotten serenity.

“Thank you for reserving this seat for me,” he says. His voice was smooth and airy like summer's breeze. Erik closes his eyes and lets the voice fills the gaps in his soul.

“Forgive me, Erik. I was delayed.” he continued.

**Author's Note:**

> The fics sprouted after I watched the scene after the end of the credit at X-Men:The Last Stand. 
> 
> At the end of the credit rolls, Erik is completely lost. He lost Mystique. He lost his power. He lost Charles. Erik has been reduced to an ordinary old man, alone and helpless.
> 
> Though, he does not scream and cry over Charles' dead, he sits alone in a park facing a chessboard. He is waiting for Charles to play with him.


End file.
